We received this message from Hannah this morning. PLEASE go to Atticus' page, read the story and, if humanly possible, donate whatever you can to help Atticus get the surgery he needs just to be able to stand on his own legs...any amount is appreciated!!

"We have received HQ approval to continue to raise funds for Atticus.
I have Atticus's diary up. Will you become his friend and help spread the word. There is a blog story today too!" (from Hannah)

Yup, that's right, I (Sully) got another bath today with a special anti-allergy shampoo that the vet sold us (Mom & Dad sure hope it works because I've been digging at myself relentlessly)! Mom took more pix which I'm sure she''ll post later! I felt WUNNERFUL and look so handsome, according to Mom!

After I got dried off, we went for our walk and Mom let Socks loose to go chase squirrels again (which I don't think is fair, because Dad won't let loose of me...so I just stand there barking my head off)! See, Mom & Dad don't trust me to come back like Socks will, so I don't get to have any fun with Socks chasing the squirrels (is that fair???).

Socks doesn't know it yet, but she's scheduled for a bath with the same shampoo in a few days (she's been sneezing and digging at her tailbone). We both take Benadryl, but still itch, so we're all hoping this new shampoo works for both of us.

We want to commend "Lucky Lucy" for making us all aware of the situation with "George" at the retirement home. We think had Lucy not given us all a heads up, "George" may indeed be gone already! We're editing this entry because we certainly NEVER meant to imply that Lucy's entry was not true and want to make that very clear. We credit Lucy for bringing this to all of our attention and allowing us Dogsters to add heat to the home, which we believe is why they did not make "George" leave (so they say)!

Our Mom's niece (who Mom had e-mailed, along with all others on her list) lives in Colorado and when she received the story about "George", the Golden Retreiver being made to leave his elderly companion because of one complaint from another resident, she called the "Town Village" Retirement Home in Tulsa, OK (Town Village
(918) 493-1200 www.townvillage-tulsa.com 8222 S Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74137 ) and was told the the story is absolutely UNTRUE! She had called to offer "George" a home should they actually make him leave the home.

When she e-mailed Mom this morning and told her what the home had said, Mom made a call to "Town Village" herself, spoke to Heidi who answered the phone, and was told they were very aware of the story being circulated and that it is completely false. Mom asked to speak to the Executive Director, Jim Meyer, who was not available but has a message to call our Mom back and give Mom more details (hopefully) about how this all got started and verify that "George" is safe.
HE NEVER CALLED!!!

As many of our Dogster pals have done, we have also sent the story to almost everyone on our e-mail list, asking them to sign the petition.
(Personally, our Mom believes that the story was really true, but "Town Village" has received so much negative input from other conerned animal lovers that they've decided against making "George" leave his companion and are now saying it was never true).

Whatever...just so long as "George" doesn't have to leave we should all rejoice HAPPY WOOFS & HOWLS~

Sully & Socks

(P.S. If any Dogsters live near Tulsa, OK and could go by the home and actually SEE "Geoge" and pet him, we'd probably all feel better!)

Read about IMHA and see how YOUR dog could be affected (it might take a few minutes to read, but it may save your dog's life):

http://www.ashgi.org/articles/immune_imha_muns.htm

(You NEED to be aware of this disease before it strikes YOUR dog, as once it is diagnosed, your dog's chances of dying quickly...within a week) go sky high! We hope & pray this will never happen to YOUR dog, but you need to inform yourself ahead of time, as time can be a factor in your dog's mortality!)

As many of you know, Mica lost her battle with IMHA in a short amount of time. In her memory, a fund has been established for research on this deadly disease. You can help Mica's Foundation and it won't cost you a cent (unless you choose to donate). All you have to do is go to 3 Dogster sites and corral EACH of them (listed below), and you only have to do it once! The more times Mica, Mirra & The Purple Girls of Oregon are corraled, the higher their chances of winning the funds (from a generous don0r) for IMHA research.

BUT, THERE'S A DEADLINE ON THIS!

NOW, we have but 2 months to help win $1,000 for Mica's IMHA fund, if we all work together we can do this! It ends midnight on JANUARY 1, 2009, that's the donor's day to decide what cause gets much needed funds (which Dogster's page(s) have been corralled the most...Mica, Mirra & The Purple Girls of Oregon combined). WE CAN DO THIS IF EVERYONE IS WILLING TO HELP (for ALL our beloved dogs' sake...it can affect cats as well!)

Mica is presently #6, Mirra #18 & The Purple Girls of Oregon #23. We will benefit too, by a 3-way corral by any one pup. (There's that trifecta again)

IT COSTS NOTHING...ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO TO EACH OF THESE THREE DOGSTER PAGES, ADD THEM TO YOUR CORRAL & YOU'VE HELPED FIGHT THIS TERRIBLE DISEASE!! PLEASE, TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO AND DO IT TODAY...SO MANY PUPS MIGHT BE SAVED BY THIS RESEARCH...including YOURS!!

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/504880 ANGEL MICA - the wonderpup

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/581776 MIRRA

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/718265 The Purple Girls of Oregon

THANKS TO EVERYPUP WHO CORRALS THESE THREE PUPS AND HELPS RAISE THE FUNDS FOR IMHA RESEARCH! Of course, donations would be gratefully accepted (details on donations are on Mica's page), but if you can't donate, please just to corral these three...free & easy and very possibly LIFE SAVING. God Bless you real good for helping!!

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

*****

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

(excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, given on August 28th, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC during the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom...OUR MOM WAS THERE!!!)

We just had the most fun we've EVER had in the whole wide world together!!! And....we're soooooo outta breath!! OK, here goes....

See, our Mom's been having a headache for like a zillion days now and was resting real nice this afternoon (watching a biograpy of Freddie Mercury, the fabulous singer of the rock band "Queen", who Mom LOVES, LOVES, LOVES)....wait, we digress....ok, so,

anyway, Sully & Socks here! So, we're both making carpet of ourselves in the hallway blocking the door to the bathroom (our new favorite place to hang out side by side (Mom took a picture a few days ago & will post later...you'll see how narrow our hallway is and how when we lie side by side together, we TOTALLY block the way to the bathroom door (BOL!!!!)....where were we????

oh, yeah, right...so everyone's just hanging around and suddenly we hear something outside and both of us stop bein carpet & spring up, barking our heads off (you couldn't hear a missle go off in the front yard when the two of us start up)!! We're making so much noise that Mom finally rips her headach band off and gets up to see what's going on (Dad, naturally, remains seated in his LazyBoy watching some sports stuff, pretending he doesn't hear us). When Dad sees Mom "up", he figures he's better beat feet to the door (like he was really headed there anyway, 'cause Mom's got that devil glare in here eyes again)...Dad gets to the door first and sees a brown Chow Chow dog taking off outta our front yard...the source of our agitation. This is a fotuitous thing for Dad, because Mom saw the same dog last weekend and tried to get it to come to her...it's someone's lost baby! So, see when Mom saw the dog, it diverted her devil eyes from Dad and onto the dog...thank Dog, there won't be icecicles hanging from the ceiling around here tonight...phew!

Sooooo, Mom looks at Dad pleadingly (devil eyes switched off, pleading/please eyes switched on) and says, "We gotta go catch that poor doggie and get it home." Dad's initial reaction is starting to get that "not my problem" look (just for a second) but sees a glint of Mom's devil eye and says, "OK, we'll get the van & go look for him/her". So, Mom throws some sweats on while Dad gets us loaded (like we almost knocked him over jumping in) to the van and Mom comes running (sorta) with the flashlight & an extra leash. It's just beginning to get darkish. So, we start cruisin' all over the neighborhood (people prolly thought we were casing the area in our black van w/tinted windows, driving like 5mph), but despite our best efforts and asking everyone we saw, we never found the poor doggie. We'll keep looking and now the neighborhood is alert to him being lost with instructions to call the number on his tags if they can get him/her. We tried...and, now it's time for OUR walk!

So, Mom says (since she's still feeling really pukey) "Why don't we take them over to the school yard football field, put them on the long 100' rope and let 'em rip!? Me n Socks are going ballistic anyway, so Dad (knowing the game's prolly over by now and not wanting the devil to return) say, "OK". So, we get to the field and Mom opens the back door & lets Socks out (OFF the leash, cause she's sooooo good and always comes when called, right? WRONG!!! Socks takes off like a bottle rocket across the field heading 45 degrees left, completely ignoring Mom's screams, and somehow gets past a wire fence about 5' tall, where a yard is with 3 growling, snarling, slathering big dogs are behind yet another fence (not that high), Socks barking like a loon at them and racing the 3 dogs the entire length of "their" fence (toward the main highway) back and forth, back and forth, about a zillion mph with Mom still trying to get over the fence in her Dr. Scholls SANDALS!

Meanwhile, Dad's still getting Sullivan hitched up in the back of the van and when Mr. Sullivan hears Socks and Mom, he bolts past Dad and heads right for the fence where Mom has found a low part and gotten over to where Socks is....Sullivan suddenly is right behind Mom chasing Socks with the wild bunch of salivating monsters about a foot from Mom, Socks & Sully just lookin to rumble!! Sullivan starts snarling and inciting a riot, Mom grabs Sullivan by the neck until Dad (still ambling across the field) catches up and Mom keeps calling Socks. who FINALLY comes to Mom! SHE (Socks) started it this time and I (Sullivan) got the proof...Mom SAW it this time. So, by the time Dad gets there, Mom's on her knees in pinecones & beer cans, holding boffus by the collars (just barely) and screaming Dad's name to "hurry up. for **** sake"!

THEN, Dad puts me (Sullivan) on the 100' rope and he and I take off, over the fence, back into the field, leaving Mom to deal with Socks. Meanwhile, Socks, who'd managed to scale the fence at a zillion mph without even thinking about it, suddenly "can't get over the wires, Mommy...I'm sceered!" GAWD!! S0, Mom finally has to lift lardass up and halfway over the fence which will prolly put Mom down with her back for about a week or so AND the devil eyes are shooting lasers through the coming darkeness at me and Dad who are mid-way into the field by now!!

Mom's about halfway dead, look for a red Dr. Scholl's sandal, while trying to hold Socks back (who's now lurching toward me and Dad)
and Mom's screeeeeching at Dad to "GET YOU A** BACK HERE!!!" He finally does and gets a brilliant idea. Let's tie one of them to EACH end of the 100' rope, put a leash in the middle and give 'em both plenty of room to roam around. That was nice to pass the time while Mom was wishing she had her cell phone to call 911, and we did our business and nosed around awhile.... but Dad couldn't hold our combined running weight for very long and before Mom got back up on her feet, having found her sandal, we both took off full speed together (one at each end of 100') running toward the ROAD, having a BLAST (ignoring Mom's ear shattering screams of "WAIT!!!" ...no way, Jose!)...we was flying, nearer and nearer the road with two crippled up old fools going as fast as the could waaaaaay behind us!!! It was EXHILIRATING and we'da kept going, too....if it weren't for that darn dumpster in the school parkiing lot...get the picture??

Mom's thanking God and Jesus and Buddha and QuanYin and Allah and everyone else once she realizes that one of us is on one side of the dumpster and the other on the other side...stopped dead in our tracks, prolly with necks that'll be so sore tomorrow that we won't even be able to chew Milk Bones (like we'll get any after that)!!

Mom's now finished....on the computer, physically, mentally and isn't even able to work up any anger...she's still thanking every diety down the line that we didn't hit the road! All this is what she & Dad get for going out to look for ANOTHER dog!

That's about it, pals....(inwardly, Mom & Dad LOVED seeing us run free but were so scared for us)....but, WE had a GREAT adventure and are now carpeting the hallway again...prolly for the night! Good luck gettin' to the bathroom, folks :) !

Hope you all had as much fun as we did today!

Love, Sully & Sock
****************************************************** *******
UPDATE!! Next morning....Mom's still sleeping, Sully & Socks start it up AGAIN! Dad gets up THIS time and goes to see what's up....sure enuf it's the "lost" Chow Chow doggie again...Dad spots him/her two houses down and comes "running" into the house to tell Mom. Mom wake up like she's shot outta a cannon, grabs a hat & leash and Mom & Dad take off again in the van. No luck, and the van's runnin' outta gas. Mom tells Dad to let her out and she'll walk around the back yards and look. So, Dad goes for gas, we're IN the house barking our fool heads off 'cause we see Mom walking away from the house with the leash! Mom walks across two back yards and spots a dog that looks similar, but smaller than the "lost" dog behind a fence. As she's headed toward that yard to check the dog out, she hears a breakout of barking from a deck she's just passed, looks up and PRESTO...there's the "lost" Chow Chow with another, smaller, black lab. Mom says, "There you are!!", feeling GREAT relief. The dog's owner, a newcomer to the neighborhood, comes out on the deck and greets Mom. Mom tells the story of how she's been seeing the dog for over a week and the nice man named Mike explains that she's an escape artist named, "Baby Girl". Nice conversation with a new neighbor who thanks Mom for alerting the neighborhood and then Dad drives by & picks up Mom.
The "lost" doggie mystery is now solved, Mom can rest easy (which she plans to do for the rest of the day, (still extremely sore from yesterday's antics with us) and Dad's back in in Lazy Boy watching football. Us? We carpeting the hallway....for now!

Read about IMHA and see how YOUR dog could be affected (it might take a few minutes to read, but it may save your dog's life):

http://www.ashgi.org/articles/immune_imha_muns.htm

(You NEED to be aware of this disease before it strikes YOUR dog, as once it is diagnosed, your dog's chances of dying quickly...within a week) go sky high! We hope & pray this will never happen to YOUR dog, but you need to inform yourself ahead of time, as time can be a factor in your dog's mortality!)

As many of you know, Mica lost her battle with IMHA in a short amount of time. In her memory, a fund has been established for research on this deadly disease. You can help Mica's Foundation and it won't cost you a cent (unless you choose to donate). All you have to do is go to 3 Dogster sites and corral EACH of them (listed below), and you only have to do it once! The more times Mica, Mirra & The Purple Girls of Oregon are corraled, the higher their chances of winning the funds (from a generous don0r) for IMHA research.

BUT, THERE'S A DEADLINE ON THIS!

NOW, we have but 2 months to help win $1,000 for Mica's IMHA fund, if we all work together we can do this! It ends midnight on JANUARY 1, 2009, that's the donor's day to decide what cause gets much needed funds (which Dogster's page(s) have been corralled the most...Mica, Mirra & The Purple Girls of Oregon combined). WE CAN DO THIS IF EVERYONE IS WILLING TO HELP (for ALL our beloved dogs' sake...it can affect cats as well!)

Mica is presently #6, Mirra #18 & The Purple Girls of Oregon #23. We will benefit too, by a 3-way corral by any one pup. (There's that trifecta again)

IT COSTS NOTHING...ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO TO EACH OF THESE THREE DOGSTER PAGES, ADD THEM TO YOUR CORRAL & YOU'VE HELPED FIGHT THIS TERRIBLE DISEASE!! PLEASE, TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO AND DO IT TODAY...SO MANY PUPS MIGHT BE SAVED BY THIS RESEARCH...including YOURS!!

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/504880 ANGEL MICA - the wonderpup

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/581776 MIRRA

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/718265 The Purple Girls of Oregon

THANKS TO EVERYPUP WHO CORRALS THESE THREE PUPS AND HELPS RAISE THE FUNDS FOR IMHA RESEARCH! Of course, donations would be gratefully accepted (details on donations are on Mica's page), but if you can't donate, please just to corral these three...free & easy and very possibly LIFE SAVING. God Bless you real good for helping!!

So me (Socks) and Mom are going the downhill portion of the long block we walk around...she SO s l o w and Sullivan has taught me how to pull really hard like he gets away with (NOT appreciated by Mom who blames Dad for letting Sullivan get away with it...so, it's DAD's fault!). Anyway, it's been rainy and there's slippery leaves all over the street...that's why they call it "FALL", right? Sullivan and Dad are still at the top of the hill and me n Mom are out ahead. Alla sudden, I seez a squirrel!! I needs me some squirrel meat (Mom & Dad have figured out that I prolly learned to hunt squirrels for something to eat when I lived with HIM). Unfortunately, I forgot I was at the end of a leash that had Mom's hand holding the other end, 'cause I blasted off, pulling Mom down on her butt on the wet street, chasing that little sucker....I looked like a blur I was going so fast (remember, I'm at least 12 years old, but man can I move). Fortunately, there weren't any cars coming by....yet...and Mom's busy crawling around like a sand crab in the leaves trying to get up and calling me. Forgeddaboutit, you would NOT believe how close I came to gettting Mom's Christmas present from me..Mom swears when she caught me that I had squirrel fur in my teeth..that close! I wasn't in trouble yet 'cause it didn't hurt Mom (wait'll tomorrow) and she managed to get me outta the FORK OF A TREE and we resumed our nice little stroll. So we're, just getting up stride again when a lady Mom knows comes walking by with her dog, diverting Mom's attention from me for a second...just long enough for me to yank on the leash and start chasing a car (I learned this new trick from Sullivan)...I got almost as close to the spinning wheels of that car as I did the squirrel. Would you believe Mom jerked me baldheaded and YELLED at me???? She's NEVER yelled at me before!
And, the brilliant lady friend of Moms' only comment to Mom was: "She shouldn't be ALLOWED to do that because she could be killed!" Slack-jawed at the redundancy of this remark, Mom paid no further attention to me as we marched home and she hasn't spoken to me or petted me yet. I think I might be in trouble here......and I can't even blame it on Sullivan this time! h e l p m e........

Socks

(p.s. Should you pass by our website, please excuse the temporary appearance as Mom tried to put some code in and made a complete mess of the badges...she expects waaaaay to much for one brain cell to handle! A dear friend said she'd help Mom outta it...ain't Dogster pals great??)

OK, because our mom's one remaining brain cell can't understand CSS coding (all she knows is HTML), everytime she tries to do something on our page she screws it up...which she did royally day before yesterday. But....

We have the most wonderful friend (Hannah, Lakota & Faith & her angels Sophie & Brock's mom) who came to Mom's rescue and not only fixed Mom's mess, but gave us a beautiful new wintery background, a cube of photos, a gorgeous wolf picture and Christmas music by Elvis, the KING! WOW, what a pal!!!

We can't thank her enough for taking the time to spruce up our page SO beautifully!